


Dressed to the Teeth, or Otherwise

by al_fletcher, athenril_of_kirkwall (al_fletcher)



Series: Aether Effect (With Smut) [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Bathrooms, Dragon Age Drunk Writing Circle, Dragon Age: Inquisition Quest - Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fluff, Mature because of Naked People, Prompt Fic, Romance, Shirtless, Towels, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2020-12-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:20:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27887440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_fletcher/pseuds/al_fletcher, https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_fletcher/pseuds/athenril_of_kirkwall
Summary: Cassandra encounters Blackwall before their intended presence at the Winter Palace. Neither is fully dressed.
Relationships: Blackwall/Cassandra Pentaghast
Series: Aether Effect (With Smut) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1227941
Kudos: 4
Collections: DA Drunk Writing Circle Prompt Fics





	Dressed to the Teeth, or Otherwise

**Author's Note:**

> Self-prompt for Dragon Age DWC. Keep the Casswall faith!

_A Villa by the Winter Palace_

“For the final time, I won’t be need any moisturising or scented oils!”, Cassandra bellowed, storming out of the bathroom as the complaints of several elven servants were silenced by the door swinging shut behind her, narrowing the shaft of light from the garderobe into a thin strip, then nothingness.

Blackwall, who stood between her and the rest of the wing of the palace, coughed politely, asking, “Is this an inopportune moment, Cassandra?”

Clutching the towel which was the sole preserver of her modesty to her chest, she turned to him, having just realised Blackwall’s presence. He’d put on the heavily starched trousers they were expected to turn up in for the Winter Ball in a matter of hours, and nothing else.

“What do you _think_ , Blackwall?”, she hissed, actively avoiding sizing up his bare, broad, chest to look him in the eye, only to see his gaze darting around the hallway.

“Well, I…”

“Oh, for the Maker’s sake, Blackwall,” she said, “Don’t pretend as though this is your first time seeing a woman dressed so. It certainly isn’t mine seeing a man shirtless.”

“Right,” he said, his gaze moving to her face. “I was just, ah, surprised.”

“Undoubtedly. What were you doing out in the corridor, at any rate?”, she asked inquisitively.

“To be perfectly frank,” he answered, “It was your protests coming from the bathroom which got my alert. I was half concerned that the Venatori assassin had already struck.”

“How very droll. Wait, is that why you’ve got a poker in your hand?”, Cassandra asked, looking down at his weapon arm.

Scratching the back of his head with his other hand, Blackwall said as he followed her gaze, “That would indeed be the case. Well, seeing as it happens to be a grievance of a much less deadly nature, I’ll let you go your w—”

Cassandra interrupted him, saying, “Wait. Just stay here awhile. Maybe that’ll be enough to deter them from following me with all their damned bathing lotions and perfumed oils…”

She trailed off, having lingered by the doorway enough to notice the scent hanging in the air around her companion.

Finally, she asked him, “You _let_ them put one of those balms on you?”

“…it smelled pleasant,” he defended himself.

“I certainly hope you’re not letting our Lady Ambassador get to you with the pressing need to play the Orlesians’ frivolous games, Blackwall,” she said. “I’d assumed that you had as little time for this pageantry as I did.”

“You’re not wrong there. Still, it’s nice enough to get a decent bath when I can get the opportunity. They’re far and few between on the road as Warden, and I’ve certainly never had one in a _palace_ , mind.”

Turning it over in her head, Cassandra conceded, “I suppose you’re right. Still, I must admit that this is something of a new side from the man who sleeps in a barn.”

“I confess that your protestations are equally surprising, Cassandra,” he said, asking, “Surely growing up so close to the royal court at Nevarra meant that all this sort of thing would be second nature to you, or at least familiar.”

Sighing, she said, “You’re not wrong. Maybe that is why I despise it so—I haven’t had to return to this sort of preening and dressage for years, not even as the Divine’s Right Hand. I had forgotten that this would be a luxury and not a nuisance for many of us. Perhaps I _should_ return to their ministrations lest your perfume overpower my soap’s scent.”

Blackwall laughed warmly. “And perhaps you should let them restyle your hair whilst you’re there, as refreshing as it is to see it down at last. I always did wonder what it’d look like minus that braid.”

“ _Always?_ ”, Cassandra asked, tilting her head.

“Curiosity, nothing more,” he said carelessly, rapidly changing the subject. “I do hope our Inquisitor is comfortable, though, never having had the privilege or the freedom to get bathed by others quite like this.”

“And by elven maidservants, no less,” Cassandra mused. “It is easy to forget that this palace lies upon the last of their great cities at times, for us anyway. I doubt it’s ever left her mind ever since we received the Grand Duke’s invitation. On the other hand, Solas has seemed more imperious than ever since getting here.”

“Hm. Perhaps he tapped into the dreams of some long-forgotten king, adored by thousands of his subjects and hated by the backstabbers of his court, to get into character,” Blackwall theorised. “That, or he expects the world to bend to him regardless of where he goes.”

Cassandra let a smile cross a face. “Who knows? Perhaps both are true. Very well, I shall return to that blasted garderobe to let them do what they will. Maybe we’ll present a nice enough picture for Josephine to relax a little.”

“We could be the picture of the next Age’s styles and she’d still be fretting,” Blackwall chuckled. “Still, stay any longer out here and you may well catch a chill, and ruin the beautifully embroidered handkerchiefs she’d made for us by sneezing all over them.”

“It’s almost charming when you worry about me,” Cassandra said, “Go on, then, and put the rest of your uniform, Blackwall. I’ll see you in the main hall along with Rivka and Solas.”

With that, she was gone, leaving Blackwall to gaze after her as she turned back round to finish her bath, absentmindedly noting her bare back and its muscled form, marked but far from marred by the small scatter of scars upon it, before he retreated to his quarters.

Heading back towards the door she’d almost slammed into an elven servant, Cassandra, too, idly wondered what her companion would look like in the fresh, if gaudy, uniform that had been picked out for the ball. Certainly, he’d be filling it out rather nicely, if nothing else.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: https://athenril-of-kirkwall.tumblr.com/post/636626688540884992/


End file.
